GROUPS AND SINGLE DECORATIONS FOR GALLANTRY
The prisoners were not at first very forthcoming, and it was only later that we learned their boat had been the Remo. Roxburgh continues his account of this memorable patrol:
‘That night, whilst on the surface charging the batteries, we received a cryptic signal from Malta ... containing the one word ‘Grommet’. This announced the birth of my daughter. Had 'it' been a son, the signal would have read ‘Toggle’. It so happened that Lieutenant Vassallo's wife was also expecting a baby and one of his first requests during interrogation was whether or not she could be informed of his survival. Such a culmination to the day called for something special, in addition to the usual Jolly Roger which submarines hoisted on returning from a successful patrol. When, therefore, United entered Malta harbour nine days later, she also proudly flew a ‘Stork flag’, specially constructed from Number One's ‘sarong’.
Remo’s survivors did not have an entirely uneventful nine days on board United. Apart from proving an enthusiastic cook and producing excellent spaghetti, the Italian Commanding Officer was treated to a demonstration of an attack on an Italian cruiser, some two days after his rescue. He remained a quiet, though very interested and somewhat anxious spectator in the corner of the control room, as I endeavoured to manoeuvre the submarine for a shot at a Regolo-class cruiser which flashed past at some 36 knots. With a range of 8000 yards and from an unfavourable position, we did not complete the attack.’
Roxburgh goes on to add:
‘Vassallo and I became quite friendly during his time on board, cooped up as we were in our tiny wardroom, a box some eight feet square, which we shared with four other officers. Our only common language was French. I was, however, careful to bid him a friendly farewell and to wish him luck whilst we were below in the submarine, away from prying eyes after we got back to Malta.’
There were many who did not understand that friendship could arise even between dedicated opponents.’
In common with her consorts in the “Fighting Tenth”, United also carried out her fair share of ‘special operations’, a case in point being the delivery of two C.O.P.P. teams to recce. a beach at Gela on the south coast of Sicily. The first Folbot was disembarked, with Lieutenant Philip Smith, R.N., and Lieutenant David Brand, R.N.V.R., who noted ‘soundings, bearings and distances’ over a period of two hours before returning to their rendezvous with United; alas, the submarine was nowhere to be seen. In the interim, while hanging around to pick-up the second C.O.P.P. team, a surfaced U-Boat had appeared on the scene: Roxburgh, unable to attack his foe for fear of compromising the C.O.P.P. teams, had to dive and make for base. As it transpired, the gallant Smith and Brand made it back to Malta, having paddled frantically for an entire day and night, prior to being picked up by an M.T.B.
In September 1943, after completing her 21st war patrol, United was ordered home for a refit: Roxburgh, Hatherly and fellow decorated members of crew duly attended a Buckingham Palace investiture on 9 November 1943.
“Tapir” - ‘snap attack’ - Bar to D.S.M.
In the interim having served in the Sealion in July-September 1944, Hatherly removed to John Roxburgh’s new command, the Tapir. After undergoing trials and a working-up period at Holy Loch, the newly launched Tapir undertook her first war patrol in early April 1945: what followed has been described as one of the finest ‘sub.-on-sub.’ encounters of the war, a model ‘snap attack’ ending in the destruction of the U-486 off Bergen at 0755 hours on the 12th.
A full account of this memorable encounter is to be found in Submarines versus U-Boats, by Geoff Jones, but for the purposes of closing this chapter in Hatherly’s remarkable wartime career, the following Admiralty summary is quoted:
‘Eleven minutes after the Asdic Operator had reported diesel engines, during which time nothing could be seen through the periscope, the noises altered to those of a submarine’s main motors and it became apparent that a U-Boat was making, submerged, for the entrance of Fejeosen Fjord. Both H.M. submarine Tapir and the U-Boat were too close to the entrance of the fjord to enable an attack from submerged to be carried out so the Commanding Officer rightly decided to remain at periscope depth in the hope that the U-Boat would surface before getting too far through the entrance. Nineteen minutes after the first report the Asdic Operator reported the U- Boat surfacing and, simultaneously, she was seen to do so. The Director Angle was almost on but some alteration had to be made before the torpedo tubes were brought to the ready, and three minutes after sighting a salvo was fired. One torpedo was seen to hit the target and the U-Boat literally exploded, bits being clearly observed flying through the air. This was a model attack in which the Commanding Officer, recently employed on the training of new Submarine Commanding Officers, put into effect the approved methods of submarine attack procedure which he had been endeavouring to impart to other ... ’
Hatherly - whose lightening work with the torpedo tubes was largely responsible for the the success of the attack - was awarded a Bar to his D.S.M. He remained in Tapir until August 1946, including a stint of duty in the Pacific before V.J. Day., prior to departing the submarine service in the following year. he subsequently enrolled in the Royal Fleet Reserve.
Sold with two impressive photographs albums, covering the period 1935-45, the earliest images covering the recipient’s appointment in H.M.S. Valiant and the Foxhound, the latter seeing service off Spain during the Civil War (a total of approximately 400 images); together with some 60 or so loose-leaf photographs, and a large quantity of photographic postcards, many of naval - and submarine - interest.
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